A blog chronicling my departure from urban life on the east coast to sheep farm and cheese making life on the west coast. Still recounting the meals I have eaten in my new setting, but with more sheep thrown into the mix.

Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Battlefields and Monuments

After lunch we decided to make the most of the gorgeous weather and take a drive and walk around a few of the battle sites. I'd passed this memorial a few times in the past, but this was the first time I actually got out to take a proper look. It really is dramatic.I'm not a very good history buff. When I visit the battlegrounds I understand how soaked with blood and death it must have been, but the specifics of what battalions were killing what other battalions and all the other nitty gritty details of the war don't exactly interest me. Or they do, but when I'm actually on the fields I'm more taken by the beauty of the land. The sheer destruction and death that took place on it, that is terribly sad and it's not that I forget it. But the result of the Gettysburg battle, as far as the land is concerned, is that it will never be torn asunder or built upon. No McMansions will ever grace these fields. No Wal-Marts will ever hawk their wares where so many thousands of men died. And I think that's pretty good.From the top.A. pointing something out to W.The Ohio crew.My face.Me and the cuz.We then drove up to Little Round Top. Red bud. Pretty bud.E. giving something the stink eye.Round Top from Devil's Den. There's a little stream in front of the rock formation that makes up Devil's Den. I took a little stroll along it, hoping to see some frogs or turtles. I saw one or two frog-like splashes, but not the actual frogs themselves. I also heard something that was quite reminiscent of a bullfrong, but no proof of body could be found.Afterwards we were all a little hot and decided that Rita's water ice would do the trick nicely. I went with a cherry/mango/peach combo that, at times, froze my brain something awful.